The Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success acknowledges Indigenous peoples across Australia as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which the nation’s campuses are situated. With a history spanning more than 60,000 years as the original educators, Indigenous peoples hold a unique place in our nation. We recognise the importance of their knowledge and culture, and reflect the principles of participation, equity, and cultural respect in our work. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future, and consider it an honour to learn from our Indigenous colleagues, partners, and friends.

You are reading: ADCET Webinar: Leveraging students’ voices to strengthen student support

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Students with additional needs and/or disabilities may encounter a number of challenges in the structures, timeframes, and processes of the higher education environment. This makes it essential that universities can effectively accommodate students’ diverse strengths and needs, and support them to reach their learning and personal potential.

Research in Australia is highlighting the need for a more student-centred approach in the provision of university support. This webinar draws upon a study of university students’ voices to explore what makes for effective student support and the ways in which it can be enhanced and improved. The findings reveal that effective support goes beyond the tangible; it is not simply accommodating students’ academic needs, but the feeling of personalised support and care students receive, and enabling student agency and empowerment. Support can be perceived as ineffective by students when these positive aspects are lacking or absent. However, the support can often be improved, even with minimal resourcing.

Note: In this webinar, students with additional needs and/or disabilities are considered students whose needs may make them eligible for academic accommodation or accessibility support. This includes not only students who identify as having a disability, but also students with learning difficulties, chronic illness, illness, or difficult personal circumstances which may require support from the university’s student support services. The presenter welcomes conversation in this space as we work to increase inclusion across all aspects of our society.

Audience: This webinar may be of interest to disability practitioners and student support service providers in higher education. It may also be of interest to educators and other higher education staff.

Presenter

Elizabeth Hitches.

Elizabeth Hitches, PhD Candidate at the University of Queensland

In both research and teaching, Elizabeth strives to foster inclusive and equitable learning environments where all students can reach their full academic and personal potential. Elizabeth is a PhD candidate, as well as a research officer and research assistant in both qualitative and quantitative research.

The webinar is free to attend and it will be live captioned. For more information on this webinar and how to register, please visit the website.